To America, From a Worried European Friend
. . . A country convinced that it is irredeemably racist can’t lead the world as the ‘indispensable nation.’
by Daniel Schwammenthal: History and evolutionary biology teach us that the normal course of human affairs is tribalism, oppression and poverty. The emergence of
liberal democracies isn’t the inevitable endpoint of supposedly linear Western progress but an aberration—and a rather fragile one at that.
This is why the rising illiberalism in the U.S. is so troubling. Activists who seem to understand George Orwell’s “1984” not as a warning but as a manual see free speech—the lifeblood of democracy and human betterment—as a fascist tool of oppression. Other classical liberal ideals—a colorblind society, rational discourse, the scientific method— suffer the same fate.
These unenlightened views have spread with lightning speed. Once confined to the campuses of the nation’s elite universities, they have moved into the mainstream of public discourse. America’s future leaders have been spoon-fed two theories born of Marxism. One is postmodernism, so called because it rejects the liberal ideas of modernity and the very notion of objective truth. The other is critical theory, which is preoccupied with uncovering hidden power structures that have supposedly stood in the way of a communist revolution.
These once-fringe theories have given rise to quasi-religious dogmas that divide society into hierarchies of oppressor and oppressed, setting the stage for eternal societal strife. In this new cult, dissent or insufficient fervor is interpreted both as validation of the doctrine of ubiquitous racism and a punishable thought crime. As in medieval witch hunts, both denial and forced confessions prove the defendant’s guilt.
On the other end of the political spectrum we find right-wing populism, which imagines “pure people” taking on a corrupt elite, and of course the far right, with its Nazi infatuation. The wide availability of guns in the U.S. isn’t only a subject of dispute in the unfolding culture war but could help turn it deadly. Witness the recent synagogue shootings by real white supremacists. Anti-Semitism and anti-Zionism are obsessions shared by the far left and the far right. America is headed for unprecedented polarization and possibly civil unrest.
But why am I, a German Jew living in Brussels, so worried about U.S. domestic affairs? As the adage goes, when America sneezes, the rest of the world catches a cold. Right now America has pneumonia.
I learned to cherish the U.S. long before I had the privilege to live and study there. History can be very personal. What Madeleine Albright called the “indispensable nation” meant the difference between life and death for my family. I was brought up in the firm knowledge that had it not been for those unimaginably brave American boys storming the beaches of Normandy, I wouldn’t have been born, and my parents and the rest of my people would have been extinguished. No doubt I’m leaving out entire libraries of nuance, but that is the quintessential truth.
America today is what it has always been: a flawed society, like all others, but also a unique force for good in the world. No other multi-ethnic, multi-religious society can credibly claim to be more democratic, more prosperous and more just than the U.S.
But America can’t remain the leader of the free world if it is itself no longer free. To be the guarantor of Western security requires military and economic power, but also a sense of mission. And right now Americans are committing mass character suicide. If the country goes beyond acknowledging that racism and inequality persist and must be fought, and instead convinces itself that it’s inherently and irredeemably racist, it can’t possibly continue to believe that it has any right to lead. Such an America would reject the notion that the West is worth defending and regard Europe as also inherently oppressive. We know who will fill the vacuum left by an America in retreat and at war with itself. As they watch America’s self-immolation, leaders in Moscow, Beijing and Tehran surely can’t believe their luck.
Any functioning society must extend tribal loyalty beyond the ties of blood. Ethnicity and Christianity were the glue that helped hold the more homogenous European nation states together. America’s Founding Fathers laid the foundation of a society worthy of the motto “e pluribus unum”— out of many, one — by replacing ethnic and religious loyalties with liberal ideas and deist ideals.
A shared loyalty to the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution allows Americans to see each other not as strangers but as fellow citizens.
Yes, the U.S. has not always lived up to its ideals. But to claim that the Founding’s “promissory note” was never anything but a scam to maintain a system of white oppression is a historical revisionism that will erode the country’s foundation.
European anti-Americanism constantly imagines the rise of fascism in the very country that defeated the real thing and constantly predicts the end of liberty in the world’s oldest democracy. I have always proudly opposed this view. But I am reminded now of Benjamin Franklin’s famous line: “A Republic, if you can keep it.” For the first time I have terrifying doubts.
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Daniel Schwammenthal (@AJCTAI) is director of the AJC Transatlantic Institute.
Tags: Daniel Schwammenthal, AJC Transatlantic Institute, To America, From a Worried European Friend To share or post to your site, click on "Post Link". Please mention / link to the ARRA News Service and "Like" Facebook Page - Thanks!
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| Daniel SchwammenthalDirector of the AJC Transatlantic Institute (TAI) |
liberal democracies isn’t the inevitable endpoint of supposedly linear Western progress but an aberration—and a rather fragile one at that.
This is why the rising illiberalism in the U.S. is so troubling. Activists who seem to understand George Orwell’s “1984” not as a warning but as a manual see free speech—the lifeblood of democracy and human betterment—as a fascist tool of oppression. Other classical liberal ideals—a colorblind society, rational discourse, the scientific method— suffer the same fate.
These unenlightened views have spread with lightning speed. Once confined to the campuses of the nation’s elite universities, they have moved into the mainstream of public discourse. America’s future leaders have been spoon-fed two theories born of Marxism. One is postmodernism, so called because it rejects the liberal ideas of modernity and the very notion of objective truth. The other is critical theory, which is preoccupied with uncovering hidden power structures that have supposedly stood in the way of a communist revolution.
These once-fringe theories have given rise to quasi-religious dogmas that divide society into hierarchies of oppressor and oppressed, setting the stage for eternal societal strife. In this new cult, dissent or insufficient fervor is interpreted both as validation of the doctrine of ubiquitous racism and a punishable thought crime. As in medieval witch hunts, both denial and forced confessions prove the defendant’s guilt.
On the other end of the political spectrum we find right-wing populism, which imagines “pure people” taking on a corrupt elite, and of course the far right, with its Nazi infatuation. The wide availability of guns in the U.S. isn’t only a subject of dispute in the unfolding culture war but could help turn it deadly. Witness the recent synagogue shootings by real white supremacists. Anti-Semitism and anti-Zionism are obsessions shared by the far left and the far right. America is headed for unprecedented polarization and possibly civil unrest.
But why am I, a German Jew living in Brussels, so worried about U.S. domestic affairs? As the adage goes, when America sneezes, the rest of the world catches a cold. Right now America has pneumonia.
I learned to cherish the U.S. long before I had the privilege to live and study there. History can be very personal. What Madeleine Albright called the “indispensable nation” meant the difference between life and death for my family. I was brought up in the firm knowledge that had it not been for those unimaginably brave American boys storming the beaches of Normandy, I wouldn’t have been born, and my parents and the rest of my people would have been extinguished. No doubt I’m leaving out entire libraries of nuance, but that is the quintessential truth.
America today is what it has always been: a flawed society, like all others, but also a unique force for good in the world. No other multi-ethnic, multi-religious society can credibly claim to be more democratic, more prosperous and more just than the U.S.
But America can’t remain the leader of the free world if it is itself no longer free. To be the guarantor of Western security requires military and economic power, but also a sense of mission. And right now Americans are committing mass character suicide. If the country goes beyond acknowledging that racism and inequality persist and must be fought, and instead convinces itself that it’s inherently and irredeemably racist, it can’t possibly continue to believe that it has any right to lead. Such an America would reject the notion that the West is worth defending and regard Europe as also inherently oppressive. We know who will fill the vacuum left by an America in retreat and at war with itself. As they watch America’s self-immolation, leaders in Moscow, Beijing and Tehran surely can’t believe their luck.
Any functioning society must extend tribal loyalty beyond the ties of blood. Ethnicity and Christianity were the glue that helped hold the more homogenous European nation states together. America’s Founding Fathers laid the foundation of a society worthy of the motto “e pluribus unum”— out of many, one — by replacing ethnic and religious loyalties with liberal ideas and deist ideals.
A shared loyalty to the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution allows Americans to see each other not as strangers but as fellow citizens.
Yes, the U.S. has not always lived up to its ideals. But to claim that the Founding’s “promissory note” was never anything but a scam to maintain a system of white oppression is a historical revisionism that will erode the country’s foundation.
European anti-Americanism constantly imagines the rise of fascism in the very country that defeated the real thing and constantly predicts the end of liberty in the world’s oldest democracy. I have always proudly opposed this view. But I am reminded now of Benjamin Franklin’s famous line: “A Republic, if you can keep it.” For the first time I have terrifying doubts.
-------------------
Daniel Schwammenthal (@AJCTAI) is director of the AJC Transatlantic Institute.
Tags: Daniel Schwammenthal, AJC Transatlantic Institute, To America, From a Worried European Friend To share or post to your site, click on "Post Link". Please mention / link to the ARRA News Service and "Like" Facebook Page - Thanks!
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